Life is Beautiful, Crazy sometimes, but beautiful nevertheless

The Arrival of the Youngest of the Mwambi’s

Knowing what lay ahead should perhaps have scared me, but it didn’t. Oh, I wont lie, I did get terrified at first. We all do up until we get tired of carrying well over 10kilos of baby, placenta, waters and colostrum everywhere we go. When you have all the baby items ticked off the list and the question, “Bado?” starts being directed to you, you somehow switch on the ‘READY’ button and wake up each morning, hoping it’s the last with a large belly.

Labouring for days

Week 40 was closing in and I got really concerned that this baby was determined to bake and brown at term. I hadn’t gone beyond 39 weeks with my previous pregnancies and for some reason I expected my third pregnancy would end up similarly. I had mild pains that came and went, but I pushed on with life as usual.

Break at work

Driving 15km to and from work wasn’t so dramatic except for the few times my right leg would cramp or when Braxton Hicks got so intense I had to lift my weight to ease them. At week 39+2days, I was relieved from work and continued my active shenanigans at my kids’ school; sitting at the office with my mom and sister as their office assistant by duress.

39 weeks, 6 days: Did baby forget its time? I was beginning to doubt that the false labour pains were even real. Pregnancy blogs advised I could wait up to 42 weeks and that was nothing short of disheartening for me! I couldn’t take it anymore. I was not only wadding about, standing up now needed assistance and insomnia was my middle name.

Sent Back home at 40 weeks! Lawd!!

We walked into L&D (Labour and delivery) at 11pm on 22nd January. Pains had disappeared and I was embarrassed so I lied that I needed to know the baby was doing okay as movement had reduced. I was due for clinic in a day so I’d take any excuse to get me checked. They checked me, all right, and baby was doing pretty well! “You are dilated at only 2cm, your cervix lies pretty low and its not thinned so go back home and come back when the pain is really intense, like You-cant-speak-through-a-contraction painful.” The labour signs were recited to me and I barely gave an ear. I knew the drill. I just wasn’t too happy about going back home.

Is this it?

4am the following morning found me awake and in terrible pain. I had lost my plug during the check up at the hospital and I knew it wouldn’t be long now. Part of me celebrated, but a larger chunk of my heart was petrified of what lay ahead. Odi Dance, or is it Kanungo…why did I get myself into this…I thought wildly. I needed to stay positive though. “It wont go beyond a night…” I whispered to myself. “All these beautiful things will finally belong to someone. She will be out of me and I can finally sleep on my belly…Yaaaaaaas!” Ouuch!

Painful Contraction.

They were spaced 6 minutes apart and disappeared again when my mom and sis dropped by. They came to cheer me on and ended up with some form of a leach aka me following them through all their errands. I knew I was going back in, only I wanted to hit the 4cm mark when I would.

My sister and I got our nails done.

Yes…through the now reduced-but-still-there contractions. Trust me, when its baby number three, you want to walk into L&D and have them hand you your baby. I would have killed for such a scenario but no; that was never the tale that would be told of the Mwambi’s third.

At last! Oh wait, what?

10:30pm and I was at 4cm no thinning yet and worse, my waters were meconium stained at levels they said were too high for induction or progression. I was given two hours to go about my Odi- Dance before a decision of whether to go CS or normal was made. Nevertheless… I was admitted! Yaaaay! I wasn’t very worried about going CS. Raine pooped in utero as well and she came out good, no meconium inhalation whatsoever. Anna would too. She was a fighter… I could feel it…now!

More painful contractions

We went on counting hours and walking about. Walking really does help, you know. I sent updates to my husband, but assured him we would hack it. They had taken blood samples and asked me to give him my wedding band; I was being prepared for an emergency CS. I knew he wouldn’t take it too well, knowing I have never been under the knife (You never know what can happen when its your first time you know) so I decided against giving him my ring.

TICK! TOCK!

Midnight and we were at 6! Aha! “This is very good progress” Doc said. I smiled amidst dry lips. ”So we proceed?” he nodded, and asked that I get something to help my cervix soften. I was handling it well. At 2:50pm, knowing I should be close to 9cm, I got impatient and every contraction was received with despair and lost hope. I became miserable…its what happens when you have been running for the bathroom, pressed to pee and you give up and leak just when you get to the bathroom door. I was tired and in need of redemption.

Then, at 3:30am, 24th of January, Little Ariella came into this world, screaming fiercely and topping the Apgar score for the night. It was finally over; my third and last pregnancy at only 31. Wooohooo! Motherhood, I am ready to face you in totality and with all my energy. Sexy, just watch me get my hottest me back. Wink* Wink*